General Robert E. Lee to Samuel Cooper, February 6, 1865

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,        

February 6, 1865.

The enemy moved in strong force yesterday to Hatcher's Run. Part of his infantry, with Gregg's cavalry, crossed and proceeded on the Vaughan road—the infantry to Cat-tail Creek, the cavalry to Dinwiddie Court-House, where its advance encountered a portion of our cavalry and retired. In the afternoon parts of Hill's and Gordon's troops demonstrated against the enemy on the left of Hatcher's Run, near Armstrong's Mill. Finding him intrenched they were withdrawn after dark. During the night the force that had advanced beyond the creek returned to it and were reported to be recrossing.

This morning Pegram's division moved down the right bank of the creek to reconnoiter, when it was vigorously attacked. The battle was obstinately contested several hours, but General Pegram being killed, while bravely encouraging his men, and Colonel Hoffman wounded, some confusion occurred, and the division was pressed back to its original position. Evans' division, ordered by General Gordon to support Pegram, charged the enemy, forced him back, but was in turn compelled to retire. Mahone's division arriving, enemy was driven rapidly to his defenses on Hatcher's Run.

Our loss is reported to be small; that of the enemy not supposed great.

R. E. LEE,        

General.

General S. COOPER.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 1 (Serial No. 95), p. 381

General Robert E. Lee to James Seddon, September 17, 1864

DUNN'S HILL, September 17, 1864.

At daylight yesterday the enemy's skirmish line west of the Jerusalem plank road was driven back upon his intrenchments along their whole extent and his location ascertained. Ninety prisoners taken in the operation. At the same hour General Hampton attacked his position, north of Norfolk railroad, near Sycamore Church. Captured about 300 prisoners, some arms, wagons, large number of horses, and 2,500 cattle. General Gregg attacked General Hampton on his return in the afternoon at Belches' Mill, on the Jerusalem plank road, but was repulsed and driven back. Everything was brought off safely. Our entire loss does not exceed 50 men.

R. E. LEE.

Hon. J. A. SEDDON,
        Secretary of War.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 42, Part 1 (Serial No. 87), p. 852

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to John M. Forbes, February 24, 1864

Giesboro' Point, Feb. 24, '64.

 I left Vienna, not from choice, but because I had to. I am sent over here to straighten out the Cavalry Depot, — the Depot which supplies all the Eastern Departments. There has been no head here, and there was a sad want of system. They say at the War Department, at the Cavalry Bureau, and at General Augur's Headquarters, that I should only be here two or three months, — in that case I shall not object. There is a great deal of work to be done, and I am getting interested in it, — but shall leave when I get the machine fairly running. The command of 16,000 to 25,000 indifferent (or worse) horses is not much for glory.¹

About going into active service I cannot tell: I wrote to General Gregg and got answer that he would apply to Pleasanton for the Regiment and could probably get it, — I have heard nothing more.²

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¹ The official documents show the activity of the brigade during the later months of 1863, scouting parties and counter raids and picket attacks, of which I mention a few specimens: —

October 13. Colonel Lowell reports a scouting expedition he had made through Thornton, Herndon Station, Frying Pan, to Gum Spring, — nothing found. Reports Captain Rumery's (Second Cavalry) encounter with White's men, capturing one man and three horses from them.

October 22. Colonel Baker (under Colonel Lowell's orders) reports that a detachment of his command, and one from the Californians in the Second Massachusetts, met some of Mosby's men near Fairfax; killed one, and captured “the three celebrated guerrillas, Jack Barns, Edwin Stratton, and Bill Hanover,” whom he forwarded to the Old Capitol Prison.

October 19. Mosby reports to Stuart a very successful raid on an army-train near Annandale; that he captured over one hundred horses and mules, wagons with stores, seventy-five to one hundred prisoners, arms, etc., with no loss. Then comes a rumour of another great invasion by Lee and Longstreet about to occur, and General Pleasanton sends General Gregg to operate with Colonel Lowell at Fairfax. General Corcoran reports to Washington that Lowell is scouring the country. It proves that there is no invasion.

October 27. Mosby reports that, the night before, he attacked the centre of a long wagon-train hauling supplies for the army to Warrenton. His men unhitched the teams from more than forty wagons, and ran off one hundred and forty-five horses and mules and “thirty negroes and Yankees.” “I had forty men.”

November 5. Mosby reports that he has killed Kilpatrick's division commissary, and captured an adjutant, five men, six horses, etc.

November 17. Colonel Lowell reports one sergeant and three men of the Thirteenth New York Cavalry captured by rebels — twenty or thirty, in Union overcoats, advancing to the sentries with a pretended pass, — wounded one man.

November 22. Mosby reports that, since November 5, he has captured seventy-five cavalrymen, over one hundred horses and mules, six wagons, etc.

Each of these raids, at a new place, in a wide region, was followed by a pursuit; but the freebooters had scattered in every direction, having no camp, only to muster again when ordered.

November 26. Colonel Lowell reports a reconnoissance by one of his captains, with twenty-five mounted and seventy-five dismounted men (the latter concealed as far as possible, and marching chiefly by night), towards the Blue Ridge; Yankee Davis and Binns (a rebel deserter) as guides. Colonel Lowell, later, with one hundred mounted men, joins these at Middleburg.

December 13. Colonel Lowell reports: “This morning, at about three o'clock, the picket at Germantown were surprised by a party of guerrillas, dismounted, some twenty strong. They crawled up and shot (without any warning), mortally wounding two men and capturing five horses and their equipments.”

December 20. Colonel Lowell reports a reconnoissance led by him, on the 18th, on the trail of Rosser's and White's large force, which had cut telegraph lines and burned bridges, and gone farther. On his way back he chased some of Mosby's men, and brought in two prisoners and sixteen horses.

December 21. Colonel Lowell reports twenty to thirty guerrillas near his camp the night before, who attacked one of his picket stations, got four horses and wounded two men. The same night they attacked an officer and his escort on Fairfax Road, and wounded two. “One of the wounded men, near Hunter's Mill, was shot a second time through the body by a guerrilla, after he had surrendered and given up his pistol. Party sent in pursuit, but to no purpose.”

December 27. Colonel Lowell reports a scout to Leesburg by fifty men of the Thirteenth New York Cavalry, guided by Binns, who had deserted the Confederates. They searched houses, and brought in eight prisoners, “among them Pettingall (a notorious scout), Joe White, Bridges (one of Mosby's men), and Beavers, with other suspicious citizens pointed out by Binns.” Had a few shots at distant parties.

December 31. Colonel Lowell reports the return of his parties sent on extensive scouting expeditions to Hopewell's Gap, White Plains, Middleburg, Upperville, Philomont, Dranesville, etc. It was supposed that clothing was to be issued to the rebels, but they did not appear at the place specified. A party fell in with some of Mosby's men and some Virginia cavalry; captured one captain, one lieutenant, seventeen privates, forage contractor, and ten suspicious citizens, most of whom were thought to be recruits or conscripts.

The above reports, taken from the Rebellion Record, show how constant and exacting was the service of holding the guerrilla bands in check.

The views of the General-in-Chief on the “Partisans,” as tried by the standard of military ethics, is shown in the following extracts from an official letter of Major-General Halleck: —

washington, Oct. 28, 1863.

Most of the difficulties are caused by the conduct of the pretended non-combatant inhabitants of the country. They pretend to act the part of neutrals, but do not. They give aid, shelter, and concealment to guerrilla and other bands, like that of Mosby, who are continually destroying our roads, burning our bridges, and capturing wagon-trains. If these men carried on a legitimate warfare, no complaint would be made. On the contrary, they fight in citizen's dress, and are aided in all their rascalities by the people of the country. As soon as they are likely to be caught they go home, put out their horses, hide their arms, and pretend to be quiet and non-combatant farmers.  . . . It is not surprising that our people get exasperated at such men and shoot them down when they can. Moreover, men who act in this manner in disguise and within our lines have, under the laws of civilized warfare, forfeited their lives. (Rebellion Record, xxix, ii, 347.)

General Stoneman, in a letter from the Cavalry Bureau to Colonel Kelton, A. A. G., written Oct. 30, 1863, tells of the enormous numbers of sick, disabled, and unserviceable horses there, and of the wilful or necessary neglect of them, and their misuse or overuse in the field and camp.

The average issue per month to the Army of the Potomac was 6000. In the details of the number of horses he lately issued to different commands, were only one hundred to Colonel Lowell, against much larger numbers to others. [Yet the guerrilla-hunting service was very destructive to horses.] General Stoneman writes : —

“There are 223 regiments of cavalry in the service. Of these, 36 are in the Army of the Potomac. At the rate horses are used up in that army, it would require 435,000 a year to keep the cavalry of that army up.”

² Colonel Lowell's letters during the winter and spring are very few, because his wife was now with him in camp, and his military duties were many. He still commanded the brigade, with headquarters at Vienna. Of his own regiment, the battalions commanded by Major Forbes and Captain Read were there; Major Thompson with his battalion being stationed on the Maryland side of the Potomac, guarding that approach to Washington. From Vienna, picketing and scouting parties went out against the ever-active foe.

On Feb. 4, 1864, a painful incident — desertion to the enemy by a private of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry — occurred. I tell the story as told to me by Mrs. Lowell and some of the officers. There was in the regiment, as has been said, besides the Californians and the better class of the Massachusetts contingent, unfortunately a bad element of would-be bounty-jumpers and roughs still present, and desertions had been frequent. An example of severe punishment was needed for the good of the service, yet deserters had been pardoned by the President. One night a picket-guard deserted “off post,” taking his horse, arms, and accoutrements with him. Very soon after, a scouting party of the regiment returning from Aldie were attacked in rear by Mosby's men. Making a counter-charge, the soldiers recognized the renegade among the enemy. A rush was made for him, and he was run down and taken. Colonel Lowell at once summoned a “drumhead court-martial,” which sat all night, and condemned the man to be shot at ten o'clock the next morning. It was done with all the attendant circumstances usual at military executions, to make the incident an impressive one to the brigade. The regiments were drawn up, forming three sides of a hollow square on the drill-ground, and the prisoner, guarded, and accompanied by the chaplain, and preceded by his coffin and the firing-party, was marched slowly, to solemn military music, around the inside of the square, so that each man could see his face, and then shot.

It not being warranted by the Army Regulations for a subordinate officer to call a “Drumhead Court-martial” and execute its sentence, except in case of emergency, when too far away to communicate with his superiors, and Colonel Lowell being in daily communication with headquarters at Washington, he expected, on reporting the matter that afternoon, to receive at least a severe reprimand. On the contrary, no mention was made of it at all. The fact probably was that General Augur, and Mr. Stanton, who would naturally be consulted in such a case, were both pleased at Colonel Lowell's action, for if the case had been referred to Washington, the President would probably have pardoned the man, who was young and infatuated of a Southern girl; but they could not commend Colonel Lowell for going beyond the authority of the regulations, therefore deemed silence the best means of expressing their approval.

Feb. 20. A severe disaster befell the regiment. A large party, under Captain Read of California, a much valued officer, on their return from a two-days scout, were ambuscaded and routed by Mosby, the captain and nine men were killed, many were wounded, and two officers and fifty-five men were taken, — more than half the command.

March 8. The First Battalion ordered to relieve the Second Battalion in Maryland, the latter rejoined the regiment. Several officers of the Second Massachusetts were commissioned in the Fourth and Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry — a serious loss to the regiment.

April 8. Colonel Lowell returned and resumed command of the Brigade, and, soon after, three expeditions were made into the neighbouring counties, resulting in the capture of thirty-five officers and men of Mosby's command, and of twenty-five thousand dollars' worth of cotton, wool, blockade-run goods, and Mosby's papers were found in one of his hiding places.

April 18. Major Forbes brought in six prisoners, taken when on the point of burning some bridges.

April 19. Colonel Lowell reports to Washington on the enemy's forces and the amount of corn in Loudoun County, and brings in eleven prisoners.

April 23. Colonel Lowell reports an attack on his pickets. His truthfulness in giving evidence, even against his command, and his absence of all brag, make all his reports remarkable, in contrast to many others of officers on both sides.

April 26. General Tyler writes to General Augur, now commanding the Department, about some expedition about to start from Washington: “With Colonel Lowell in command of the cavalry, I have no fear of trouble.”

Early in May, the regiment furnished a patrol for the Orange and Alexandria R. R.

May 18. Major Forbes conducted a successful night expedition to Rectortown with two hundred men, and returned with ten guerrillas and thirty horses.

June. Early in the month, a large part of the regiment went with ambulances, to help bring in the wounded left in the Wilderness after the battle.

July 6. The regiment suffered another severe disaster, largely due, like that of Captain Read, to the party's being ordered to remain out for a considerable time, visiting certain towns, which allowed time for the hostile inhabitants to send word to Mosby of the exact number of men in the command, and to direct him where to find them. Colonel Lowell reported that he had sent Major Forbes, with one hundred and fifty men, on a three-days scout towards the gaps in the Blue Ridge, with orders to visit Leesburg on two days. Major Forbes found all quiet, and on the second day learned that Mosby was absent on a raid north of the Potomac; next day he returned to Leesburg, found all quiet, and, in accordance with his orders, began his return march towards Vienna. Meanwhile Mosby, returning from his raid, had been notified of the strength and probable whereabouts of the command, and with a force of two hundred men or more, and a gun, came suddenly upon them at Zion's Church, near Aldie, and opened fire with his gun. The result was a victory for the Partisan force, who killed forty men of the Second Massachusetts and Thirteenth New York Cavalry, wounded many, and took about one hundred horses. From the accounts of officers there engaged, I add the following. While Major Forbes was feeding and resting his command in a field on the edge of some woods, his vedettes brought in word of Mosby's force being close at hand. He had hastily mounted and formed his squadrons, when the large guerrilla force appeared before them and sent a shell among them. This was an absolutely novel experience to men and horses, who till then had never faced artillery, and made them very unsteady, especially the new squadrons. The obvious and necessary move was an instant charge with the sabre, but a stiff fence before them rendered this impracticable without moving the command. The first squadron behaved well as long as they faced the enemy, but the moment Major Forbes gave the order “Fours right,” to shift to a possible charging ground, the spell was broken, and the men began to break away from the rear. Mosby's men, who had taken down a panel or two of the fence meantime, under cover of the gun, “got the yell” on their opponents, rushed in on their flank with the revolver, and, in spite of efforts of their officers to rally them, the greater part of the command fled. Many were shot in close pursuit. Major Forbes, with a few of the best soldiers, charged and fought gallantly, but these were overpowered or killed. The major ran his sabre into the shoulder of a Captain Richards, and it flew from his hands. At that moment Colonel Mosby shot at him at close range, but the ball fortunately was stopped by the head of his horse thrown up at that minute. The horse fell dead, pinioning Major Forbes to the ground, and helpless, with half a dozen pistols at his temples, he had to surrender. Lieutenant Amory was taken with him. They were at once robbed of part of their clothing and their boots, but when their captors undertook to search Major Forbes's pockets, he is reported to have said they might have his brains, but he meant to keep what money he had, and ordered them to carry him to their officers. Some one of these prevented any further outrage, but the officers had to walk “stocking foot” on the first day's march towards a Southern prison.

Years after, Colonel Mosby, in a newspaper article, said: “One of the regiments I most frequently encountered was from about Boston, the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, Colonel Lowell. I once met a detachment of it under command of a Major Forbes of Boston, and although our encounter resulted in his overthrow, he bore himself with conspicuous gallantry, and I saw him wound one of my best men with his sabre.”

The day after the fight, Rev. Charles A. Humphreys, the chaplain of the Second Cavalry, who was with the expedition and had bravely stayed by a mortally wounded private until his death, was, while burying the body, in spite of his cloth, captured and robbed by a young guerrilla, and sent to join Forbes and Amory in prison.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 315-6, 445-55

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Major Henry L. Higginson, September 14, 1863

Centreville, Virginia, Sept. 14, 1863.

My Dear Henry, — I was glad to see your fist on an envelope some weeks ago. I ought to have written you sooner, but it is so infernally quiet here now that to get together material for a letter is a labour.

I am glad, old fellow, to hear that your wound is at length convalescent. It would have been a bore to carry a ball in it all your life, with a chance of its giving you a twinge any minute. . . .

You ask me no end of questions about the army. As if we take interest in the army. We are an independent, fancy department, whereof I command the cavalry, and we take no interest in wars or rumours of wars. I have seen men who profess to be going to and from the “front,” — but where is the “front”? We are in the “front” whenever General Halleck has an officer's application for leave to endorse. Stanton is so fond of us, however, that he keeps us on the safe “front” —  the “front” nearest Washington, whereby I am debarred from the rightful command of a brigade of five regiments in Gregg's division, which Gregg offered me, and which he applied for me to take, my own regiment being one of the five. But Stanton is very fond of us, and keeps us where it is safe.¹

. . . I hope you will be kept at home until next January, for between now and then I mean to be married (if President Lincoln and General Lee do not interfere), and I shall be glad to have your countenance, so do not let your wound heal itself too rapidly. What do you hear from Frank? Give him my love, when you write. Tell him I gave him myself as a sample to be avoided, and I now give him Rob Shaw as a pattern to be followed. I am glad Frank remained in that regiment. It is historic. The Second Massachusetts Cavalry and some others are more mythic. . . .

About coloured regiments, I feel thus, — I am very glad at any time to take hold of them, if I can do more than any other available man in any place. I will not offer myself or apply for a place looking to immediate or probable promotion. If one goes into the black business he must go to stay. It will not end by the war. It will open a career, or at any rate give experience which will, inevitably almost, consign a man to ten or twenty years' hard labour in Government employ, it seems to me. Since Shaw's death I have had a personal feeling in the matter to see black troops made a success; a success which would justify the use (or sacrifice) made of them at Wagner.

Do you know the President is almost ready to exchange your brother Jim, and leave Cabot (it might have been Frank just as well) in prison at Charleston, after all the promises that have been made by the officers of the Administration? This is disgraceful beyond endurance almost.²

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¹ The Government and Major-General Heintzelman, commanding the Department of Washington, fully appreciated the advantage of having so efficient a cavalry commander and well disciplined a force in the neighbourhood. But they had to resist other competitors, for, besides the desires of General Gregg to have Lowell and his regiment in the Army of the Potomac, another general repeatedly importuned the War Department for them. Major-General N. P. Banks (Department of the Gulf), in his report to General Halleck, March 27, 1863, speaking of his need of cavalry, says: —

“I feel especially the loss of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, raised expressly for my expedition; for, besides its strength, I relied upon Colonel Lowell to infuse the necessary vigour into the whole cavalry service.”

Again, April 18, 1863, General Banks sends the following message to Major-General Halleck: —

“I beg leave, at the risk of being considered importunate, to repeat my earnest request that more cavalry be sent to this department.  . . . If you will send me the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, raised expressly for my command, with their arms and equipments, I will mount them here from the horses captured on this expedition. Its commander, Colonel Lowell, is personally nearly as important to us as his regiment."

As late as September, General Banks was still pleading for the cavalry. General Halleck answered: “In regard to Colonel Lowell's regiment, I need simply to mention the fact that it is the only one we have for scouts and pickets in front of Washington.”

² The officers here spoken of are Captain James J. Higginson, of the First Massachusetts Cavalry (who was captured in the fight at Aldie, where his brother, the Major, was wounded), and Captain Francis Lee Higginson, his younger brother, and Captain Cabot J. Russel, both of the Fifty-Fourth. As has been said, Captain Russel's family were not sure of his death. When the news of the raising of coloured troops was heard in the South, it had been threatened that captured privates should be sold to slavery and the officers treated as felons. This threat was not carried out, but difficulties arose about exchanges; and in this matter, and that of their payment, the course of the Administration and of Congress was for a long time timid and discreditable.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 302-4, 443-4

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, March 5, 1865

March 5, 1865

. . . Well, the rain held up and some blue sky began to show, and I mounted on what I shall have to call my Anne of Cleves — for, in the choice words of that first of gentlemen, Henry VIII, she is “a great Flanders mare” — and rode forth for a little exercise. Verily I conceived we should rester en route, s[u]ch was the mud in one or two places! She would keep going deeper and deeper, and I would strive to pick out a harder path and would by no means succeed. Nevertheless, I made out to find some terra firma, at last, and, by holding to the ridges got a very fair ride after all. I found not much new out there, towards the Jerusalem plank: some cavalry camped about, as usual, and a new railroad branch going to supply them, and called Gregg's branch. Gregg, by the way, has resigned. He is a loss to the service, and has commanded a cavalry division very successfully for a long time. I don't know why he went out, since he is a regular officer. Some say it is a pretty wife, which is likely, seeing the same had worked in that style with others. Then there is Major Sleeper, resigned too. He has served long and well, and been wounded; so I say, what a pity that he should not stick to the end. It is human nature to expect a full performance of duty, when once a man has done decidedly well. These branch railroads are like mushrooms, and go shooting out at the shortest notice. The distinguished Botiano was entirely taken down by the performances of this sort. Just at the time of our new extension to the left, he went for a few days to Washington. When he got back, he was whisked over five miles of new railroad, including a number of bridges! This upset him wholly, and it was hard to make him believe that there hadn't been an old line there before. Now where do you suppose I went last night? Why, to the theatre! Certainly, in my private carriage to the theatre; that is to say, on horseback, for may high powers forfend me from an ambulance over corduroys and these mud-holes! Rather would I die a rather swifter death. To explain, you must understand that good Colonel Spaulding commands a regiment of engineers, a fine command of some 1800 men. As they are nearly all mechanics, they are very handy at building and have erected, among other things, a large building, which is a church on Sundays, and a theatre on secular occasions. Thither the goodly Flint rode with me. On the outside was about half the regiment, each man armed with a three-legged stool, and all waiting to march into the theatre. We found the edifice quite a rustic gem. Everything, except the nails, is furnished by the surrounding woods and made by the men themselves. The building has the form of a short cross and is all of rustic work; the walls and floors of hewn slabs and the roof covered with shingles nailed on beams, made with the bark on. What corresponds to the left-side aisle was railed off for officers only, while the rest was cram-full of men. The illumination of the hall was furnished by a rustic chandelier, that of the stage by army lanterns, and by candles, whose rays were elegantly reflected by tin plates bought from the sutler. The entertainment was to be “minstrels”; and, to be sure, in walked an excellent counterpart of Morris, Pell, and Trowbridge, who immediately began an excellent overture, in which the tambourine gentleman, in particular, was most brilliant and quite convulsed the assembled engineers. The performances were, indeed, most creditable, and there was not a word of any sort of coarseness throughout. A grand speech on the state of the country, by a brother in a pair of gunny-bag trousers, was quite a gem. He had an umbrella, of extraordinary pattern, with which he emphasized his periods by huge whacks on the table. I think the jokes were as ingeniously ridiculous as could be got up, and that, you know, is the great thing in minstrels. Brudder Bones came a little of the professional by asking his friend: “What can yer play on dat banjo?” “Anyting,” says the unwary friend. “Well, den, play a game o' billiards!” “Can't play no billiards! kin play a tune” cries the indignant friend. “Well den, if yer kin play a tune, jis play a pon-toon!” All to the inextinguishable delight of the engineers. After the play the good Colonel, who is one of the salt of the earth, insisted on my taking pigs’ feet as a supper.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 310-2

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw, July 23, 1863

Centreville, July 23, 1863.

People used to tell me, when I was at Cambridge, that those were to be the happiest years of my life. People were wrong. Dissatisfied as I have always been with myself, I have yet found that, as I grew older, I enjoyed more and more.

I picked a morning-glory (a white one) for you on the battlefield of Bull Run, the other day, but crushed it up and threw it away, on second thought, — the association was not pleasant; and yet it was pleasant to see that morning-glories could bloom on, right in the midst of our worries and disgraces. That reminds me that I haven't narrated where I went on Tuesday; we started very early and went over the whole Bull Run battleground down to Bull Run Mountains and Thoroughfare, thence to Warrenton, and back to near Manassas Junction, by the Orange and Alexandria R. R., — a killing march of between 52 and 54 miles on a scorching day and nothing learnt, except this, that there was nothing to learn. However, men and horses have stood it pretty well. At Manassas Junction I met General Gregg and his division of Cavalry. Gregg told me he had applied for my regiment some time ago; that he had a brigade of five regiments which he meant to give me, but the War Department didn't answer his application, — the Brigade was still waiting for me; — provoking, isn't it?¹  However, I long ago gave up bothering about such things; I see so many good officers kept back, because they are too good to be spared, and so many poor ones put forward merely as a means of getting rid of them, that I never worry. Don't think that a piece of vanity, I don't mean it so. I don't call any cavalry officer good who can't see the truth and tell the truth. With an infantry officer, this is not [so] essential, but cavalry are the eyes and ears of the army and ought to see and hear and tell truly; — and yet it is the universal opinion that P—'s own reputation, and P—'s late promotions are bolstered up by systematic lying.

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¹ General David McM. Gregg had known Lowell in the Peninsula, having been a captain with him in the Sixth U. S. Cavalry.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 278-9, 429

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, December 10, 1864

December 10, 1864

Miles, with the troops which had been sent to reinforce him, maintained a threatening attitude near Hatcher's Run till afternoon, when he was ordered to withdraw again to our lines. The enemy undertook to follow up a little, but the rear guard faced about and drove them away. — There was I seized with a fearful sleepy fit last night and went to bed; thus missing a letter home to you. However, I have not before missed one in a very long time; and, if I followed Duane's advice, I should miss much oftener. “Lyman,” says this ancient campaigner, “you are foolish to write so much. Now I write only once a week, so my letters are valued. You write every day, and probably Mrs. Lyman puts them in her pocket and pays no attention to them.” Ah! I was speaking of Miles, and had got him with all his forces, and put him inside the works, all right. We had to pay farewell respects to Riddle, for his resignation has been accepted and he goes to-morrow. For a long time he has been in miserable health and, in warm weather, is seldom well enough for hard duty. He has been twice wounded, at Antietam and on the Peninsula, and was taken prisoner, but got away from Libby and arrived, after many hardships, within our lines. He is a very good officer and quite a superior person, whom we shall miss on our Staff. The kind-hearted Woolsey invited us all to take oysters in his honor (for you must know that there is a log house where one may have a “fancy roast,” “plain stew,” or “one fried,” just across the road). We gathered in the greatest force, for oysters attracted, even if Riddle didn't, and had a high festival. We had songs, whereof I sang several, with large applause. “You don't drink,” said Duane, “but it don't make any difference, because you look as if you had been drinking, and that's all that is necessary.”

Before I finish this day I must go back to tell of the beginning and progress of the Weldon road expedition. Last Wednesday, General Warren, with his own Corps, Mott's division of the 2d Corps, and nearly the whole of Gregg's division of cavalry, started in the morning and marched down the Jerusalem plank road, striking across to the Nottoway River, at Freeman's Bridge, a distance of from fifteen to seventeen miles. There a pontoon bridge was thrown and the whole command got over before daybreak the next morning, the advance getting that night to Sussex Court House. Meantime the enemy, getting [wind] of the move, sent off A. P. Hill's Corps, that evening, twelve hours after Warren. Hill went to Dinwiddie Court House, but what became of him thereafter, I have not yet learned. Their place in the lines was taken, I presume, by some of Early's men, who were nearly all come down from the valley and are helping Lee now. On Thursday Warren continued his march and struck the Weldon road, a little south of the Nottoway, in the afternoon, and immediately went to destroying the track and burning the river bridge. The work went on systematically: the line being halted on the road, the men stacked arms, and went at the track. Sleepers were torn up, and these, with fence-rails, made great bonfires, on which the rails were laid. Soon the iron would wax red-hot, when the weight of the ends would bend the rails. Some of the men, however, were so enthusiastic as to take rails and twist them round trees, which could be done while the ends were cool and the middle hot. As soon as a brigade had finished its work, it marched down to a new piece, passing the other men who were destroying; and so they kept on till midnight, when they had got to Jarrott's station and there halted. Next day, Friday, the column kept on, as before, the cavalry preceding them, who, when they arrived at Meherrin Bridge, found strong earthworks on the opposite side and some ten guns, which immediately opened on them. . . .

This night was a very severe one, with its high wind and snow, sleet and rain; but it was rendered tolerable by the big fires that the soldiers lighted to heat rails with. General Warren did not deem proper to cross the Meherrin, as it would take a day to flank the Rebels' works, and he started with but six days' provisions. Next day, Saturday to wit, he began his return march and the head of the column got as far as Sussex C.H. On this march the people of the country had the bad judgment to “bushwhack” our troops: that is, to kill any stragglers or small parties they could catch. This is against the rules of war. I will not say it is surprising, because the stragglers of an army always steal and plunder and exasperate the people. Colonel Sergeant told me he himself saw five of our men shot and stripped nearly naked. The troops were so enraged by such cases, that they fired every house on their march, and, what made them worse, they found a great amount of apple-brandy in the country, a liquor that readily intoxicates. The superior officers destroyed a great deal of it, but the men got some and many were drunk. The people make this brandy on account of its great price. It sells for $1500 a barrel. Colonel Wainwright told me he found two tithing-bills in one house, one a year old, the other recent; in the old one wheat was valued at $10 a bushel, in the recent, at $40, showing that it has quadrupled in price within a year. It was on this day that a cavalry reconnaissance that pushed out on the Vaughan road reported heavy artillery firing in the direction of Jarrott's station. This made Grant so uneasy that he directed aid to be sent Warren. Accordingly Potter, with 9000 men, marched that night, and arrived next morning at five A.M. at the Nottoway, at Freeman's Bridge. A wretched march indeed! in slush and mud and a damp cold; but his men followed on very well and arrived with little straggling, which surprised me. .

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 293-6

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, December 3, 1864

December 3, 1864

At the end of each month, General Meade sends up his pay-rolls, that is, a large printed sheet which each officer fills up, stating what the Government owes him, and saying that he hasn't cheated Uncle Sam, and don't owe him anything and is all right generally. The pay department keeps this as a receipt and returns your money for the past month. Lieutenant-Colonel Woodruff gets the General's pay. One part he sends to Mrs. Meade and the rest he sends to the General, who, the moment that he gets it, sends violently for Mercier and John and everyone else to whom he is indebted, and pays them all, in hot haste, as if his last day were come. He is a thorough old soldier about money and regards greenbacks in a weak and helpless sort of way. “Once,” said he, “Mrs. Meade said it was my plain duty to go to market, as other gentlemen did: it would be so satisfactory and saving. I went the next morning. We had a famous dinner — oysters, terrapin, and lots of good things — the children were delighted; but, when I came to look, I found I had spent the week's allowance in one day! I wasn't allowed to go any more to market.” You would have laughed to see yesterday the crowd of contrabands that came in with Gregg. Usually, wherever they can, they cut and run, not showing that devotion to their masters described by the Southrons. It is sometimes rather remarkable the way they run off. Now in this lot (mostly women) there was all the way from a newly born baby to an old woman who, they told me, was over ninety, and who, from her looks, might very likely have been a hundred and fifty. The young women had their mistresses' things on, if I know myself. There was one Christian Commission kuss who went whining about and saying: “Oh! you are free, free! Oh! thank God for it!” “Look here, my friend,” said I, “if you want to show your Christian feeling, go and tell your commission to get these people something to eat; they have had nothing since yesterday.” The pious party took this with an ill grace, but was fain to walk off “to see our agent,” who, I hope, made some good soup for them.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 287-8

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, December 1, 1864

December 1, 1864

At daylight General Gregg made a start, with nearly his whole cavalry division, for Stony Creek station. For you must know that, since we have held the Weldon road, the enemy have been obliged to waggon much of their supplies from Stony Creek station, by cross roads to the Boydton plank and thus to Petersburg. Lately we have had reports that they were building a cross railroad from Stony Creek to the southside road. Gregg's object therefore was to go to the station, which is over twenty miles by the road from our lines, find out if this railroad were really in progress or not, and do as much damage as possible. Instead of going straight down he, by advice of General Meade, bore a little to the east and then suddenly swung round, when he got a little below the station. The consequence was he came on them where they didn't look for him. There were two redoubts, with regular ditch, etc., intended to keep off raiders; there was a thirty-pounder Parrott and a twelve-pounder field-piece mounted in them, and a few infantry as garrison. Their cavalry took to their heels, prudently. The infantry got in the redoubts and fired away with their cannon; but it got taken in a novel fashion. A regiment of cavalry charged to within 100 yards, then tumbled off their horses and made a rush at the parapet, and ran right over the occupants. This gave them possession of the station, and then there followed a scene of general smashing, which, according to witnesses, was highly amusing. The men, feeling like mischievous boys, went at everything tooth and nail. They took several hundred bales of hay and piled them against a stack of short forage, which contained between 3000 and 5000 bags. Then they set the whole on fire, and helped the blaze with a lot of new tents. Next they tied down the safety-valve of a locomotive, built a big fire under the boiler, and blew her up by this scientific process. After distributing the contents of a number of Rebel Thanksgiving boxes on the principle of spolia forti, they ended by a display of fireworks consisting of a shed full of ammunition, which was fired and allowed to go off at its convenience. Then they retreated, in great glee, taking with them 170 prisoners, who were not in such great glee. One was a scamp named Major Fitzhugh, who, when Captain Lazelle, of our cavalry, was made prisoner, put a pistol to his head and made him give him his boots. Captain Freikle told me he had a mind to make the scoundrel march the twenty miles barefooted, but couldn't bring his mind to anything so mean. I would have made him do it.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 285-7

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, November 22, 1864

November 22, 1864

As it was fine, after three days' rain, General Humphreys bestirred himself to give rational entertainment to the two Englanders; and so General Meade ordered a couple of brigades of cavalry turned out and a horse-battery. We first rode along the rear line and went into a fort there. It made quite a cortege, for, besides the Generals and their officers and orderlies, there followed Mr. Lunn in a four-horse spring waggon, with General Hunt to bear him company; for Lunn had received the horseback proposition with mild horror. So he followed in a waggon, much as Mr. Pickwick was wheeled after the shooting party, when he finally turned up in the pound. In the fort was a company of soldiers that you might know beforehand were Germans, so dirty and especially so grimy — they have a great facility for looking grimy do the Germans. It was funny to see the different chaps among them: one, evidently a ci-devant Prussian soldier, was seized with rigidity in all his muscles on beholding a live brace of Generals. There was another who was an unmistakable student; he had a moustache, a poetically fierce air, a cap with the brim turned up, and a pair of spectacles. There he stood, a most out-of-place individual, with our uniform on, watching anxiously the progress of a pot, boiling on a fire. The cavalry looked what I have learned to consider as very well; that is, the men looked healthy, the horses in good flesh, and the arms and equipments in proper repair. To a European they must have been fearful; very likely so to Major Smyth, though he was silently polite — no polish, horses rough and woolly, and of all sizes and colors; men not sized at all, with all kinds of beards and every known species of hat; but as I know that men do not fight with their hats and beards, I was satisfied to see evidences of good discipline. Thereafter we called on General Gregg, where I had a treat in form of some Newton pippins, of which excellent apple there was a barrel on hand.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 277-8

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, September 29, 1864

September 29

Headquarters contented itself by getting up about half-past five, which was plenty early enough, as turned out. We rode down to General Hancock's about 9.30. He was camped not far from us, or had been, for now his tents were struck and packed, and there lay the familiar forms of Lieutenant-Colonel Morgan and Major Mitchell, on some boards, trying to make up for their loss of sleep. The cheery Hancock was awake and lively. We here were near the point of the railroad, which excited General Meade's indignation by its exposure. Now they have partly sunk it and partly built a bank, on the enemy's side, so that it is covered from fire. Here we got news that Ord and Birney had crossed the James, the first near Dutch Gap, the other near Deep Bottom, and advanced towards Richmond. Birney went up the Newmarket road, took a line of works, and joined Ord, who took a strong line, with a fort, on Chapin's farm, which is before Chapin's bluff, which again is opposite Fort Darling. We got sixteen guns, including three of heavy calibre, also some prisoners. General Ord was shot in the thick of the leg, above the knee. There was another line, on the crest beyond, which I do not think we attacked at all. We went down then to the Jones house, where were Parke's Headquarters, and talked with him. I saw there Charlie Mills, now on his Staff. Finally, at 1.30 we got to Globe Tavern where was the astute Warren. Everything was “set,” as he would say, for an advance by Griffin's and Ayres's divisions, while Willcox's and Potter's divisions of the 9th Corps were massed at the Gurley house, ready to support. General Gregg made an advance west of Reams' station, and was heavily attacked about 5 P.M., but repulsed them. Their artillery blew up one of his caissons and we could see the cloud of smoke suddenly rise above the trees. This was all for that day in the way of fighting.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 233-4

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, August 25, 1864

August 25, 1864

There has been more fighting to-day. Hancock, at Reams' station, was destroying the railroad (Weldon) and holding a position, also, for defence, having two of his divisions of infantry, besides Gregg's cavalry. The Rebels sent down a large force to drive him off. They began attacking say about one o'clock and were severely repulsed, till evening; but the last news is, that they made a desperate attempt on all sides and broke through a part of our right, just at nightfall. Hancock hoped to retake the part of the line lost, with the reinforcements coming up; but we have not yet heard the result. I feel rather anxious, though I don't fear for Hancock's safety; but I like to see him fully successful. Oh, bah! Captain Miller is just in (this is eleven o'clock at night). Hancock has lost eight guns — among them, I am told, Sleeper's battery. Poor Sleeper was here this afternoon, wounded in the arm. It is too much all one way in this business, it really is! I don't like to complain, because it troubles you, but it must break out occasionally. I get so mad and so bothered. For, when we have no good chance, or almost none, when our best undertakings fall through, I lose confidence in each move, and, when I hear the cannon, I look for nothing but our men coming back and a beggarly report of loss of prisoners. It is not right to feel so, but I can't help it. When a man gets knocked down every time, he expects to go down the next. Well, well, well, I feel already a little better at this grumbling. I must be a sorry eel if I am not yet used to this sort of skinning. I like to see General Meade. I think these contretemps rather rouse and wind him up; he doesn't seem to be depressed by that sort of thing; perhaps three years of it have made it necessary to his life, just as some persons enjoy a daily portion of arsenic.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 224-5

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, August 16, 1864

August 16, 1864

I have been well content to get your letter this afternoon. In regard to what you say for the troops for the assault,¹ it is true that General Meade should have ordered in the best — and so he did. Express orders were given to put in the best troops and have the division generals lead them if necessary. General Meade made examinations in person of the enemy's lines, and the orders drawn up by General Humphreys were more than usually elaborated. People have a vulgar belief that a General commanding a great army can, and ought to arrange in person every detail. This is not possible, nor is it desirable; the corps and division commanders would at once say: “Very well, if you have not enough confidence in me to let me carry on the ordinary business of my command, I ought to be relieved.” I see great discussion in the papers as to the conduct of the negroes. I say, as I always have, that you never, in the long run, can make negroes fight with success against white men. When the whole weight of history is on one side, you may be sure that side is the correct one. I told General Meade I had expressed myself strongly, at home, against the imported Dutchmen, to which he replied: “Yes, if they want to see us licked, they had better send along such fellers as those!” As I said before, the Pats will do: not so good as pure Yanks, but they will rush in and fight. There was a report at first that Colonel Macy of the 20th Massachusetts was mortally wounded, but I have since heard that it is not so. On Sunday, he had command of a brigade, and had his horse killed: he then came back, got another horse from Barlow and returned to the front. This horse either was shot or reared over with him, frightened by the firing, and crushed him badly. Let me see, I told you this before; never mind, you will be sure now to know it. Sometimes I get rather mixed because I write often a few words about a day, on the eve of the same, and then detail it more at length afterwards. The Rebels got well alarmed about Hancock and sent reinforcements, recalling troops that had started to help Early in the valley; an important point gained. Hancock had some hard fighting to-day, with considerable success, taking several hundred prisoners and driving the enemy. The Rebel General Chambliss was killed, and we found on him a valuable map containing the fortifications of Richmond. They also are said to have killed a General Gherrard; but I have an idea there is no such General in their service.² Perhaps he was a new appointment, or a colonel commanding a brigade. As to giving you an account of the engagement, it would be out of the question; as it is a perfect muddle to me. I only know that Gregg, with a cavalry division, went out on the Richmond road, to within six and one half miles of the city, and encountered a big crowd of infantry and had to come back. Barlow had to leave his division, sick, and go to friend Dalton, at City Point.

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¹ When the mine was exploded.

² It was Brig. Gen. Victor J. B. Girardey.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 214-6

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, May 18, 1864

Headquarters Army Of Potomac

Wednesday, May 18, 1864

I have no right to complain: I have less hardship, more ease, and less exposure than most officers, and, if I must be with the army in the field, I have as good a place as one can well expect. I did hope (though there was no proper ground for it) that we might have the great blessing of an overwhelming victory. Such things you read of in books, but they do not happen often, particularly with such armies to oppose as those of the Rebels. . . .

The great feature of this campaign is the extraordinary use made of earthworks. When we arrive on the ground, it takes of course a considerable time to put troops in position for attack, in a wooded country; then skirmishers must be thrown forward and an examination made for the point of attack, and to see if there be any impassable obstacles, such as streams or swamps. Meantime what does the enemy? Hastily forming a line of battle, they then collect rails from fences, stones, logs and all other materials, and pile them along the line; bayonets with a few picks and shovels, in the hands of men who work for their lives, soon suffice to cover this frame with earth and sods; and within one hour, there is a shelter against bullets, high enough to cover a man kneeling, and extending often for a mile or two. When our line advances, there is the line of the enemy, nothing showing but the bayonets, and the battle-flags stuck on the top of the work. It is a rule that, when the Rebels halt, the first day gives them a good rifle-pit; the second, a regular infantry parapet with artillery in position; and the third a parapet with an abattis in front and entrenched batteries behind. Sometimes they put this three days' work into the first twenty-four hours. Our men can, and do, do the same; but remember, our object is offense — to advance. You would be amazed to see how this country is intersected with field-works, extending for miles and miles in different directions and marking the different strategic lines taken up by the two armies, as they warily move about each other.

The newspapers would be comic in their comments, were not the whole thing so tragic. More absurd statements could not be. Lee is not retreating: he is a brave and skilful soldier and he will fight while he has a division or a day's rations left. These Rebels are not half-starved and ready to give up — a more sinewy, tawny, formidable-looking set of men could not be. In education they are certainly inferior to our native-born people; but they are usually very quick-witted within their own sphere of comprehension; and they know enough to handle weapons with terrible effect. Their great characteristic is their stoical manliness; they never beg, or whimper, or complain; but look you straight in the face, with as little animosity as if they had never heard a gun.

Now I will continue the history a little. But first I will remark that I had taken part in two great battles, and heard the bullets whistle both days, and yet I had scarcely seen a Rebel save killed, wounded, or prisoners! I remember how even line officers, who were at the battle of Chancellorsville, said: “Why, we never saw any Rebels where we were; only smoke and bushes, and lots of our men tumbling about”; and now I appreciate this most fully. The great art is to conceal men; for the moment they show, bang, bang, go a dozen cannon, the artillerists only too pleased to get a fair mark. Your typical “great white plain,” with long lines advancing and manoeuvring, led on by generals in cocked hats and by bands of music, exist not for us. Here it is, as I said: “Left face — prime — forward!” — and then wrang, wr-r-rang, for three or four hours, or for all day, and the poor, bleeding wounded streaming to the rear. That is a great battle in America.

Well! to our next day — Saturday, May 7th. At daylight it would be hard to say what opinion was most held in regard to the enemy, whether they would attack, or stand still; whether they were on our flanks, or trying to get in our rear, or simply in our front. However, it was not long before they were reported as fallen back — a good deal back from the left and right and somewhat from our centre on the pike. Reconnaissances were at once thrown out; and the General sent me to the front, on the pike, to learn how matters stood; where I found, on the most undoubted evidence, that we were throwing solid shot and shell at the rebels, and they were throwing solid shot and shells at us. . . .

There was heavy skirmishing, with some artillery, all that morning, until we determined that the enemy had swung back both wings; and shortened and straightened his line. There lay both armies, each behind its breastworks, panting and exhausted, and scowling at each other. At five this morning a novel sight was presented to the Potomac Army. A division of black troops, under General Ferrero, and belonging to the 9th Corps, marched up and massed in a hollow near by. As I looked at them, my soul was troubled and I would gladly have seen them marched back to Washington. Can we not fight our own battles, without calling on these humble hewers of wood and drawers of water, to be bayonetted by the unsparing Southerners? We do not dare trust them in the line of battle. Ah, you may make speeches at home, but here, where it is life or death, we dare not risk it. They have been put to guard the trains and have repulsed one or two little cavalry attacks in a creditable manner; but God help them if the grey-backed infantry attack them! . . .

As General Grant sat under a pine tree, stoically smoking his briarwood pipe, I heard him say: “To-night Lee will be retreating south.”¹ Ah! General, Robert Lee is not Pemberton; he will retreat south, but only far enough to get across your path, and then he will retreat no more, if he can help it. In fact, orders were out for the whole army to move at dark on Spotsylvania Court House. But Lee knew it all: he could see the waggons moving, and had scouts besides. As night fell, his troops left their works and were crowding down the Parker's Store road, towards Spotsylvania — each moment worth untold gold to them! Grant had no longer a Pemberton! “His best friend,” as he calls him. And we marched also. . . .

We [Headquarters] did not start till nearly nine o'clock.  . . . It was a sultry night — no rain for many days; the horses' hoofs raised intolerable clouds of dust, which, in this sandy region, is fine almost like flour. I never saw — nobody could well see — a more striking spectacle than that road as we passed slowly along. All the way was a continuous low breastwork behind which lay crowded the sleeping infantry. They were so close as almost to be on top of each other; every man with his loaded musket in his hand, or lying at his side. A few yards outside stood a line of sentries, their muskets cocked, and others sat on top of the breastwork. Few of the officers allowed themselves any rest, but paced up and down, in their great coats and slouched hats, looking sharply after the sentries. That looked like war, I do assure you. By the roadside was Gibbon, and a tower of strength he is, cool as a steel knife, always, and unmoved by anything and everything. There we lay down, literally in the dust, after a drink of iced water (for all the farms have ice-houses in this region, which our men are not slow to hunt out), and then we waited for General Meade, who had waited behind to speak with Hancock. By and by he came, with more clouds of dust, and then on again, past more sleeping men, and batteries in position, losing the road, finding it again, tearing our clothes among trees and bushes, then coming to cavalry pickets and finally to Todd's Tavern, where General Gregg had his Headquarters, with his division of cavalry camped about there. . . . There was a porch in front with a dirt floor, and there I lay down, with my head on a timber, and got some sleep. On Sunday morning, May 8th, — it was not much like a Sabbath, — we were all staring sleepily about us, forlorn with dust and dirt. The road was full of the infantry, passing at a rapid rate; in light order they were, many without knapsacks, or coats: most had thrown away all baggage but a blanket and haversack. Then came batteries, then more infantry, all of the 5th Corps; the Second had not yet begun to pass.  An old nigger made us some coffee and hoe-cake — very acceptable. . . .

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¹ The day before, “Grant told Meade that Joe Johnston would have retreated after two such days' punishment. He recognized the difference of the Western Rebel fighting.” — Lyman's Journal, May 6.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 99-104